Golf is one of the more popular games in the world. It is played by players with a very wide range of fitness levels and physical abilities. One of the difficulties faced by less fit players and particularly by older players is the need to bend down retrieve the ball from the ground. This is particularly a problem when the ball must be retrieved from the hole or cup on a golf course green after successfully sinking a putt.
There have been numerous devices described aimed at overcoming this difficulty.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,658,145 describes a device for fitting to a caddy club or golf club. The device has a number of flexible, resilient fingers curved to rest on top of and to deform over and grip a golf ball between them on application of downward pressure to the shaft of the club. The fingers are formed from two ribbons of metal both bent into a U shape with one fitted within and perpendicular to the other.
A problem with many of these devices is visual obtrusiveness. This reduces the visual attractiveness of any club to which they might be attached, giving the club a mechanical appearance not in keeping with the image of the game. Further it makes it clear to any observer that the club user employs a retrieval device which may be embarrassing to the user.
It would also be expected that if many of these devices were fitted to the handle of a club, the ball engaging apparatus would catch on the person or clothing of the user.
A usual manner of storage of golf clubs is with the handle downward inside a golf bag. In such a position, many available retrieval devices would be susceptible to damage or might cause damage to other clubs or to the bag or in another case be vulnerable to being dislodged when the club is withdrawn.